Echinocystis

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Echinocystis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Echinocystis (Greek, hedgehog and bladder; from the prickly fruit). Syn. Micrampelis. Curcurbitaceae. Wild Cucumber. Wild Balsam-apple. A profuse native annual vine which is a favorite for home arbors; the other species not generally cultivated, except perhaps the perennial-rooted megarrhizas. Most of the species are annual herbs, with branched tendrils and palmately lobed or angled lvs.: fls. small, white or greenish, dioecious, the campanulate calyx 5-6-lobed and the corolla deeply 5-6-parted; stamens in staminate fls. 3; ovary 2-celled, with 2 ovules in each: fr. fleshy or dry, more or less inflated and papery, opening at the summit; seeds flattened, more or less rough.—The species are about 25, in the warmer parts of the western hemisphere, about 10 of them in the W. U. S., and 1 in the eastern states. The eastern species (E. lobata) is one of the quickest-growing of all vines, and is therefore useful in hiding unsightly objects while the slower-growing shrubbery is getting a start. Cogniaux, in DC. Mon. Phan. vol. 3, 1881, makes three sections of this genus, and this plant the sole representative of the second section, or true Echinocystis, because its juicy fr. bursts irregularly at the top, and contains 2 cells, each with 2 flattish seeds. The Megarrhiza group (kept distinct by some) is distinguished by its thick perennial root, large turgid seeds and hypogeal germination. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Echinocystis. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Echinocystis QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)